You're viewing an article in TMO's historic archive vault. Here, we've preserved the comments and how the site looked along with the article. Use this link to view the article on our current site:Apple Offers 17" eMac To Consumers At US$1099

Apple Offers 17" eMac To Consumers At US$1099

Apple has announced that the eMac will now be available to consumers. The company is offering a single configuration with a 700 MHz G4 eMac, the built-in 17" CRT display, and 128 MB of RAM for US$1099. The model comes with a CD-RW drive, and a competitive consumer software bundle.

Other features include:

40 GB hard drive

32 MB GeForce2 MX 2X AGP graphics card

From Apple:

Due to strong consumer demand, Apple® today announced the immediate availability of its new eMac(TM) to consumers. Originally offered to just education customers, the eMac was launched in April to rave reviews and has since generated tremendous interest from consumers.

Apple is offering a new CD-RW and modem configuration eMac through all of its retail channels. The eMac features a stunning 17-inch flat CRT and a powerful 700 MHz PowerPC G4 processor in a remarkably compact design that is 8 mm less deep than the original 15-inch iMac®. Priced for retail at just $1,099 (US), the eMac is the most affordable PowerPC G4 system ever.

"Consumers have pounded on the table demanding to buy the eMac, and we agree," said Apple CEO Steve Jobs. "The eMac's production ramp is ahead of schedule, so we'll have enough eMacs this quarter to satisfy both our education and non-education customers."

All eMacs include Apple's award-winning suite of digital lifestyle software including iPhoto(TM) for managing and sharing digital photographs, iMovie(TM) 2 for creating digital movies, and iTunes(TM) 2 for creating a digital music library. With five USB ports and two FireWire® ports, eMac provides easy plug-and-play connections to popular peripherals such as digital video camcorders, digital still cameras, printers and scanners.

You can find more information on the eMac at Apple's Web site. The consumer eMac model being offered is retailing for US$1099. Apple says that the eMac is available immediately in the Apple Store, which we have confirmed, while retailers we have spoken with are still awaiting information on when they will receive units.

The Mac Observer Spin:

This is a very smart move for Apple, and one the company frankly should have made when introducing the model. There is just no reason not to offer the eMac to consumers, a thought with which Apple apparently now agrees.

Note too that Morgan Stanley said last week that it expected Apple to ship fewer iMacs this quarter than previously estimated. At the time, Salomon Smith Barney defended Apple saying that while the company would ship fewer iMacs, it wasn't as much below estimates as Morgan Stanley said. Wall Street Wars aside, it would be interesting to know whether or not the eMac is being offered to consumers to ease any supply constraints in the iMac line. Note that we have no specific knowledge along those lines, and that our comments on this are merely an observation. It's just as possible that Apple always intended to offer the eMac to consumers.

In any event, this should bode well for Apple's bottom line. The eMac is a truly great companion to the iMac, and should make it easier for Apple consumers to choose the model that is right for them. It should also defuse some criticism about Apple's consumer line being too expensive. We also like the consumer software package, which compares well to most consumer Windows bundles.